From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste in images
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2013
Zenit Editorial Staff writer reports January 10, 2013 there are 99 apostolic nuncios stationed around the world, some of whom are in charge of more than one country according to data published last Sunday by the Italian newspaper Avvenire.
Report says just under half (48) are Italian, a lower percentage than in the past (in 1961, 48 nuncios out of a total of 58 were from Italy, that is, 83 percent; in 1978 there were 55 out of 75, or 73 percent).
Even though out of 41 Pope Benedict XVI raised to the episcopate for the first time, only 15 are Italian (37 percent), papal representatives in ecclesiastically and/or politically important countries such as France, Spain, Great Britain, Poland, the United States, Brazil and Italy itself are still Italians.
According to the report the other nuncios are mainly from Europe (26, of whom six are Polish, 5 Spanish and the same number French). There are also nuncios from Asia (12), North America (7, all Americans), Africa (5) and two from Hispanic America.
It further reports that vacant at present are the nunciatures of the Ivory Coast, El Salvador, Malta, Kenya and Uganda, while within the next few months the nuncio of Bulgaria will leave. The nunciature of Iran will also be vacant due to Archbishop Jean-Paul Gobel’s new post as apostolic nuncio to Egypt.
In Kenya the post remained vacant following the reassignment of apostolic nuncio to Kenya Archbishop Paul Alain Lebeaupin to the European Union in Brussels on the same capacity.
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning “envoy.” Click here to see the list of all Apostolic Nunciatures. In his capacity a Papal Nuncio is the equivalent of Ambassadors of other countries, although in Catholic countries, the nuncio often ranks above Ambassadors in diplomatic protocol serving as the liaison between the Holy See and the Roman Catholic diocesan episcopate in the nation or region to which he is assigned.
Not all the nations have the nuncio. In Africa the countries represented include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Botswana, Cameroun, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Botswana, Congo (Republic of), Congo (Democratic Republic of), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, and Egypt.
Others are Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sénégal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
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Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ UN Disarmament Conference, 2002